Ministry responds to port speculation

The Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday that whether a new port being built could host aircraft carriers, as some media have recently speculated, would be decided "in accordance with the tasks required".

Canada-based Kanwa Asian Defence, a regional defense magazine, said in its August issue that a 700-meter dock in Sanya, Hainan province, is a second aircraft carrier base for the People's Liberation Army navy.

The South China Morning Post quoted the magazine as saying that China "has put the finishing touches to the world's longest aircraft carrier dock", and the facility could service carriers on both of its sides.